Soul Metal
Soul Metal (ソウルメタル, Sōru Metaru) is a mystical metal alloy commonly used by the Makai Order to create weapons and armor in their battle against Horrors. Description & Characteristics Original Universe In Kouga's universe, there's no complete explanation of how soul metal was made. It is only known that priests discovered a raw material that can be processed into the mystical metal. Soul Metal itself is a special magical alloy that has high tensile strength, malleability, responsive to human will, magical resistant, and used as the core material in anti-horror weaponry and armor for the Makai Priests and Makai Knights. Unlike ordinary metals, soul metal responds to the wielder's strength and thoughts; a trained body and a strong will are required to effectively wield anything made out of Soul Metal. Soul Metal's combat potential is based on the wielder's will: Former Golden Knight Taiga displayed he can make the metal light as a feather or heavy as a meteorite as well as have it floating and moving on the air as he, please. Also, during the duel between Garo and Zero, both knights displayed the same application by having their respective makai blades fly and fighting each other independently at one point. By using same applications on Makai Armor (which made of Soul Metal itself), and combine it with the armor's tensile strength, an experienced makai knights in his armored form gains varying degree of superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, and able to defy gravity. However, anything made out of soul metal must be purified regularly or may experience corruption. Soul Metal also reacts to dark energies. When knights use their blades and armors to slay Horrors, Jaki (dark energy) accumulates and if not cleansed of it, the metal can be corrupted and harm its user. Normal humans without sufficient will and training cannot lift the metal of any size. Direct contact by those untrained in its usage will lead to injury, as it burns flesh due to its magical properties. Expertly trained users can channel their power into the blades and increase the physical damage strength of their blades to cut through solid rock in a swift motion or have the blade fly and attack foes from distance. When a Makai Knight falls into darkness, the knight's metal turns into Death Metal (デスメタル Desu Metaru), taking hold of its user and consuming the person from the inside-out. As revealed in episode 3 of ZERO: Dragon Blood, Soul Metal possesses self-repairing properties. Makai Knights have used the metal for their weapons and armor, subjecting it to great wear and tear from combat and impact. Yet, despite whatever damage potential the alloy may have been subjected to, the only form of maintenance Soul Metal needs is purification. Taking into accounts of the alloy's aforementioned ability to be responsive to the wielder's strength and thoughts, it can be inferred that the Knight's willpower is all he needs to undo the damage on their Soul Metal-based equipment. Ryūga-verse In Ryūga's universe, soul metal is made from the seeds of Legendary Horror Zedom. When the Makai Order captured and sealed Zedom, a magical port was made to open to retrieve the seedlings that Zedom makes. Under research and development, the Makai Priests discovered they can create a special metal out of the seedlings that have high physical damage and magic resistance, and the ability to respond to human will. It was through this discovery that resulted in the procurement and refinement of Zedom's seeds. The seeds need to be magically processed into saplings, where they will be made into soul metal as a material for the priests to craft into Makai Blades and Makai Armor. While there doesn't seem to be a time limit and soul metal exposure in this world, the rest of its attributes remained consistent with its Kouga's universe's counterpart. Anime Series Soul Metal in the Anime primarily borrows aspects from the original series. As within the live-action continuity, the alloy is highly resistant to physical damage and magic, is responsive to human will, and has the ability to burn flesh through direct contact, which they used as the core material in Anti-Horror weaponry and armor. However, there are some differences. Whereas live-action series established that mastery over Soul Metal took a lifetime of training, it took at least few weeks, if not outright days depending on one's skill, to fully master said technique in anime instead, which also includes intense workout sessions. A trained body and a strong will still be required to master anything that made of Soul Metal, but the said requirements seemed to be less strict in the anime universe. In fact, the 4-year old Roberto Luís shown able to miraculously wield Zoro daggers for the first time when confronting Sir Venus to protect his mother thanks to training sessions he went through under León's tutelage. Even so, those who have little to no experience in wielding Soul Metal still have difficulty in properly wielding armor or weapons made of the said alloy. In GARO: The Carved Seal of Flames, Soul Metal can also be used as core material for Demon Beast Armor aside Makai Armor and Makai Blade, like Octavia, the devout follower of Mendoza, was given a Soul Metal-based Demon Beast armor to combat Ema, León, and Alfonso. History TBA Notes & Trivia TBA Articles & References TBA External Links Category:Items Category:Terminology Category:Makai Equipment